Summary
The Supreme Court restored an environmental-clearance appeal rejected by the NGT on limitation. Where the final permissible day was a Sunday, Section 10 of the General Clauses Act permitted filing on the next working day despite the special statute’s limitation scheme. The need to obtain voluminous records and technical and legal advice constituted sufficient cause on these facts. A person directly affected by land acquisition was not excluded from challenging the environmental clearance. The clearance merits remained for the NGT.
Issues
- Whether next-working-day computation applied to the NGT appeal’s outer filing period.
- Whether sufficient cause justified condoning the delay.
Provisions considered
- Section 16 and proviso, National Green Tribunal Act, 2010The thirty-day appeal period and further sixty-day condonation window governed; sufficient cause required a contextual assessment. (¶¶ 13, 17-19, 22-30)
- Section 10, General Clauses Act, 1897Applied to allow filing on the next open day when the last permissible day fell on a court holiday. (¶ 19-21)
Held
- The special statutory outer limit excluded resort to the Limitation Act to enlarge it. That did not prevent Section 10 from operating where the last filing day fell on a holiday; the next working day counted as timely. (¶ 18-21)
- Sufficient cause is fact-dependent, requiring bona fides and attention to negligence and prejudice. The technical nature of environmental review, voluminous material and need for expert advice justified condonation here. (¶ 22-29)
- Directly affected landowners may access the NGT; their ability to obtain land-acquisition advice did not show ready access to the distinct technical assistance needed for environmental review. Delay was condoned and the appeal restored for merits adjudication. (¶ 29-30)
Result
Appeal allowed; NGT order set aside, delay condoned and environmental-clearance appeal restored for decision on merits. No costs.